#041 - Disney, Beijing Film Academy, & Magic Dumpling | Kevin Geiger

Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom

This week’s guest is Kevin Geiger. Kevin is a founding partner of creative development company Magic Dumpling. Kevin has a pioneering, lifelong background in animation and VR, working on and off at Disney for many years both in Burbank and China, as well as building two versions of Magic Dumpling between Disney stints. He also owns a children’s book company called Peewee Frog that is doing some really cool stuff.

Among all the great points that Kevin makes based on his extensive experience and perspective working here is the main, macro one - namely, that China IS changing, but that it won't change for YOU. We also discuss the point that you can’t view China and attempt to solve any challenges you may be having in dealing with or understanding it through an outside lens, especially a western one. To interact successfully and satisfyingly here, you have to gain some real local perspective and develop an alternate set of instincts that are relevant for this reality as it is, not what you imagine it to be. Lots of food for thought in this episode, and many good words to heed before diving into anything over here.

But it's not all serious; in fact, it's mostly a fast, fun and (hopefully) funny talk, and I hope you enjoy it. Links to check out all of Kevin's very cool enterprises are in the show notes; if you're a China-curious creative, this episode is especially a don't-miss.

Before we get into the interview I want to take a minute and tell you about our sponsor, Stackry. Stackryis the global leader in international parcel forwarding from the US to anywhere in the world. The way it works is that you shop at any US retailer, have your packages shipped to your Stackry address, and once everything has arrived, Stackry consolidates your stuff and ships it to you anywhere in the world, even China, saving you up to 80% of the shipping costs versus shipping things directly from the store. Stackry provides free storage, same day consolidation of your packages, and a tax-free US address for you to use. I have an update on my own Stackry story: I see from the Stackry website that I’ve had one big batch of items delivered to their warehouse in New Hampshire, and I have one last order on it’s way to them. As soon as everything arrives, Stackry will do their packing consolidation magic and get everything moving towards me here in Beijing. I’ll update you as my Stackry story continues, and it’s really easy to use their site and get yours started, too. Sign up TODAY via the link below, and use the offer code BIGFISH at the checkout to save 10% off your first shipment.

Enjoy!

Please SUBSCRIBE to “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” at: Apple Podcasts / iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom/id1237037187?mt=2

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=174877&refid=stpr

SPONSOR: Stackry “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” sign-up link: http://bit.ly/BigFish2018

Use the offer code BIGFISH at the checkout, and save 10% off your first shipment!

GUEST:

Kevin Geiger links:

Personal website - www.kevingeiger.com

Linkedin profile - www.linkedin.com/in/kevingeiger

Magic Dumpling's website - www.magicdumpling.com

Peewee Frog's website - www.peeweefrog.com

VR/AR/animation blog - https://www.awn.com/blogs/reality-bites

HOST / SHOW: please LIKE “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” on Facebook:

Brendan Davis on WeChat: BrendanDavis

Brendan Davis on Twitter: @VeritasInLux

Other links to LISTEN: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/podcast-links/